FLORENCE, KENTUCKY -- I have been in the banking industry for 6 years now and I have NEVER been involved with a bank this terrible. I should have stayed with Fifth Third! I left Fifth Third because I am an employee and that meant no one could view my accounts but myself--which can be an issue if there is ever a problem with fraud, etc. When I initially opened my account with Key, I did it online. I never got a confirmation number or a phone call or anything. So the following day I went into the Houston branch myself to see if the online service had actually worked and I ended up being in there for 2 hours!!!

Their systems kept going down and they couldn't tell me whether or not they had put begun the process of debiting my old Fifth Third account with an automatic transfer. I ended up leaving after they "fixed it" but I felt very uneasy--and I should have gone with my gut instinct. Recently (it's now 2010) I received a call from a woman at the Houston Rd. branch (**) and was rudely told that Fifth Third Bank had reported negatively to ChexSystems that I had NSF activity on my old account. I assured her there must be some mistake and that my account with Fifth Third had been closed and I left in good standing.

She rudely just repeated again that I had to close my account or I would have to have my check and debit card privileges revoked and they would start charging me fees for my direct deposit. I immediately contacted Fifth Third and was assured that they had not reported anything to ChexSystems and that all my accounts were closed and in good standing. The manager at Fifth Third even gave me a notarized document to take to Key telling them that I was a good client and that I was in good standing. I brought it to ** at Key immediately. I didn't hear back from her until a few days after. She again rudely stated that I needed to close my account or revoke privileges.

I asked if the problem with ChexSystems was still not cleared up and she said she hadn't run the report again, but because my account went overdrawn by $4-- even though I immediately deposited plenty of funds (CASH) to cover it-- that I had to close it. I tried explaining to her that the deposit would have been made the night before the check that caused the overdraft posted, but by the time I reached the bank they had closed for the night (they have highly non competitive hours and BAD hours for those who work 9-5). She simply said, "sorry."

The following day I saw where they hit me with two $33 overdraft fees!!! They had posted both overdraft fees FIRST, then an item for $16 that had been memo posting for OVER A WEEK, and FINALLY my cash deposit showed. Most banks do process the highest debit amount first, but in this case, they should have posted my cash deposit because cash is INSTANT. This account never should have been charged a fee especially because the deposit was made at 9 am the morning of the overdraft. Most banks give you until 1pm to get your deposit in.

I have NEVER been treated like this in my life. I had been banking with Fifth Third for 10 years and I should have stayed with them. I never had issues like this with them. There are PLENTY of other banks out there and I highly suggest if you are looking for a SAFE and RELIABLE place to keep your money--you AVOID Key Bank!!

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Overdraft is a KEY in Key Bank profit

By Svitlana - 07/12/2007

PORTLAND, OREGON -- I opened Checking Account and Credit Card with Key Bank years ago, and one day in 2006, I withdraw $200 cash at ATM overseas. Transaction went through without any warning, however, I had to pay somewhat $30 fee, and Key Bank covers overdraft at that time. I did not like to receive few dollars extra and pay somewhat $30. No one would. I asked Key Bank options I have in order to void such "convenience charges" in the future. I was surprised!

Key bank "cannot" decline overdraft transactions: "we do not do that, we always cover it and charge overdraft penalty for it". WOW! What a way to make a profit on simple mistakes of your client! I did not want to stay near such trap set by my bank and decided to close account immediately. At that time I had the same set of accounts with US Bank, where US bank Checking Account linked to US bank Credit Card, and fee is only $10 per total $200 of multiple overdrafts!

But, I did not close Key Bank Checking or Credit Card at that time. Why? Because I got assurance from Key Bank representative that Key Bank can do the same as US Bank! OK, sounds like a plan, I finally will have some use for Key bank credit card (never had any debt on it), plus, Key bank voided that $30 fee, nice!

Again, I outline: According to Key Bank, it will never happen again, since Key bank Credit card is linked to its checking account same way as US bank did, and if any overdraw transaction occurs, it will be funded from credit card up to its limit. Here is what happened in June. Jun 2007 I purchased 6 items on Ebay and used Paypal to pay, linked to Key bank checking.

Right after that I got over $200 overdraft penalty charges, which includes multiple overdraft charges per single transaction. Why? Because Key bank checking never got linked to Key bank Credit Card, as promised, whoever promised that "was wrong" and the only way to set Overdraft Protections via dedicated line of credit linked to checking! I called all numbers, than I actually visited a branch manager, asking why I pay for Key Bank representative mistakes out of my pocket. Everyone was rude. Every conversation was a great insult for me.

On my simple question about what actually these $30+ fees per each overdraft transaction for, I got "for funding your transaction while you have insufficient funds". But it is a lie again: Key bank did not cover these transactions! Instead, Key bank refuse funding, you try again, and they charge multiple overdraft fees increasing per each attempt to complete the transaction! One more part: Key bank online system set perfectly to rip people off on overdraft fees. Oh yes, I will explain!!!

Say, online access shows negative -$185 balance, meaning, that without any new transactions since last overdraft took place, customer deposit of $185+ should bring checking balance back to positive. I had no new transactions and deposited $300 immediately, so, I should be fine. No, dead wrong! Because -$185 shown online, was only part of the story, caused exclusively by overdraft fees! Why? Because Key bank charges fees per every overdraft attempt, but none of causing overdraft transactions were actually covered by Key bank, and, none of them appears on the statement in any way, neither as complete, or incomplete, or rejected, or pending etc.

They won't show you what went wrong and what is pending! Remember, a year ago, Key bank covered ATM overdraft? Yep, I got cash in my hands! Key bank won't explain why they charge overdraft fees all the time but did not cover actual transactions at this time. So, I had five overdraft fees applied to my account which causes -$185 balance alone, clearly visible online. And I had five (!) not covered by Key bank transactions without any reflection on the same statement! Sure I see -$185, and I immediately deposit $334. I do not see anything else online remaining incomplete.

Next, Paypal, in order to complete the same five transactions, few days later attempts to withdraw again, 5 times! I had enough balance for 4 transactions, and, overdraft happen with the same transaction again, which was not covered once, ($32 fee) and not covered again ($36.50 fee, increased!) Paypal acts the same way as everyone would: if transaction did not go through you usually slide your card again.

On my question why online system did not sow overdraft attempts and reflects only fees applied, manager says "we mailed you a letter with more details! Do you have any more questions?" Conclusion: A while ago, Key bank representative put a lot of efforts on the table, including misleading information, just in order not to loose another customer. Was it a simple mistake? Maybe, but why I should pay for it now?

Key bank online system shows only information they want to show you, outdated, and useless to track the actual situation with your account! Key bank is not an ordinary bank. It is a well oiled rip off system where flexible (not flat!) over $30 overdraft charges apply per each overdraft attempt without completing transaction! Here is the simple example how you lose $100: you are at the retail store slide your debit card, say, 2 more times because it did not go through. It will cost you overdraft fees every time you slide a cad, 3 times equal to over $100 fees, and you still have nothing paid!

Unlike with other banks, Key bank overdraft fee you pay for nothing, and it is NOT a flat rate fee, they increase it anytime they want! Because they do not cover actual transactions, their customers most likely will try to slide a debit card multiple times, and overdraft fee will be charged multiple times, increases with every other attempt, before you even know what is going on!

Key bank representatives are all extremely rude and uncooperative; they refuse to explain why Key Bank charges overdraft fees but only sometimes covers the transactions. I was under impression that they know how it works but it is such a shame that they do not want to talk about it and simply become rude and prefer to hang up the phone!
Another shame: friend of mine figured that free checking account which can be open with any balance, subject to $25 fee to close it, if you decide to do so it within 6 month and Key bank won't tell you that until you actually attempt to close the account! STAY AWAY....

Resolution Update 12/19/2007:

just got all my money back, $240, 3 month after! Screw you, KEY BANK, you have no tools against FED's!!!

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Key Bank Theft

By TiSun - 03/18/2010

EMMETT, IDAHO -- I wrote a check for $10.54, the person I wrote the check to cashed it at Wells Fargo bank. When this check hits my account....are you ready for this? It was processed as $610.00! I'm looking at my balance online, knowing exactly what it should be and notice I'm almost $100.00 overdrawn!

I see this check for $610.00 and just about fell off my chair! I immediately contact Key bank using the 800 # and the woman I speak with tells me, "Wow! That's a big mistake!" MISTAKE???? Try THEFT!!! The check in question clearly shows $10.54 so I know it's not the person I wrote the check to....it's the BANK!! She tells me it will take from 1 - 5 BUSINESS days to fix this but they will reverse any overdraft fees.

Well isn't that nice of them? If I overdraw my account, they slam me with a $37.00 fee each time but when THEY overdraw my account, oh someone made a mistake, it will take days to fix and just don't use my cards until then....
What a load of crap! I want to contact the police or someone because I feel like they stole my money! Today I check my account and of course I have 3 overdraft fees! Wonderful! I deposited a payroll check to cover what I was short yesterday which should have made it good but NO, they had to process the overdraft fees BEFORE the freaking check so I'd be overdrawn!

I'm so mad I can hardly see straight!! What is my recourse for this? NOTHING! How can this happen? DON"T KNOW, THEY WILL LOOK INTO IT!! Who gets punished for this? NO ONE BECAUSE IT WAS A MISTAKE! I don't believe that for one lousy minute! Someone went home from work with a $600.00 bonus paid for by me and there isn't a damn thing I can do about it!! OK so it could be someone from Wells Fargo where the check was cashed or someone from Key bank, I just know that the whole thing STINKS!!!

I'm stuck unable to access my money which should be well over $800.00 but instead my account is almost $300.00 overdrawn??? I can't believe they get away with this kind of stuff. I did go into my local branch after speaking with the woman from the 800# and informed them of what was going on. They said they would look into it from their end and would call me later at work. Someone did call less than an hour later, said it would be 1-2 business days before the $600.00 was put back into my account and all overdraft fees would be reversed. And again try to limit my activity on the account so I'm not getting denied somewhere.

While I do appreciate the quick call back, it still makes me very upset my account is overdrawn when in fact it's not! Why can't I charge them $37.00 for each overdrawn item? Sure they will be reversed and the money will eventually get back into my account but I don't think they even understand the problem. This is something they have caused but I'm being punished for it! I can't access my checking account because of an "error" on their end and can do nothing about it!! What a lovely way to treat your customers....

03/19/2010... A follow-up call from my local branch this am. My account has been credited all monies owed but no explanation as to how or why this happened. "They aren't telling us anything. Maybe the check right before yours was for $600.00 and it was keyed wrong." Whatever!! I'm just glad I got all my money back!

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Please Read This If You Check Your Account Online!

By Varekai - 02/23/2010

SEATTLE, WASHINGTON -- I am retired and check my account many times online everyday. I'm lucky that I have the time to do it as most people don't. Sorry for the long post but this should help anyone doing their check balancing online:

Thursday 5 days ago I made a (in person) debit card payment to my doctor's office for the past couple of months of co-pays for my wife and myself. Let's just say it was a little over $100.00. The next day (Friday) it posted as pending and did show it subtracted for available balance. I had enough to cover it and today (Monday) it is gone from the listing and they have added it back as though and my account balance is now $100.00 over my own calculations. Nothing shows pending so if I wasn't careful I could overdraw my account thinking my balance was $100.00 more than it really is.

They do this on Fridays just before the weekend so people will think they have more in their account when they don't. They hide under "We are performing maintenance" or some other excuse and purposely take out your already listed highest purchase and then tonight they add it in a second time and you just hope you have not made an easy mistake of forgetting your current balance because theirs is wrong and for a good purpose.

I know my balance is $150.00 but after posting and removing my highest payment show me to have $250.00 after they already received the payment. This happens too often and mostly on Fridays ("We're performing maintenance and all of your transactions may not be shown.")This is after I had seen it on Friday morning after paying (debit card) the doctor's bill on Thursday.

If you are not careful and overdraft on Friday and don't check your balance for a few days you will then have your overdraft fees automatically pushed into the second tier for more charges. I know, make sure you have enough money to cover but no matter how high or low my account is I shouldn't have to be subjected to this abuse. I am in the process of getting my Pension & Social Security auto deposits into a local bank here.

Tomorrow morning they will add in the $100.00 payment again just like Friday and deduct it from anything that was written or charged over the weekend. Even though it was processed last Thursday and was listed online as pending on Friday morning. UPDATE: Today is Tuesday (12 hours later) and sure enough the $100.00 shows up deducted from my balance when it showed NO Pending Charges last night and my balance was $100.00 more than this morning!

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Key Bank .. Do Not Bank With Them... Horrible.. Overdraft Fees When You Clearly Do Not Overdraft.

By missmarie - 07/25/2009

MANSFIELD OHIO, OHIO -- First of all I started my checking account in June by July I have had to battle with this bank several times in 30 days I have had 5 overdraw charges and problems with the cashing of my checks that I deposit into the ATM. First problem I deposited my check into ATM and the first hundred dollars was quickly added to my debit card however it took them 5 business days to add the rest by that time I had used my card not knowing that this was their procedure.

They did remove that fee... I thanked them and went on 2nd problem... Another fee... Because that I put my check in the ATM on Friday and on Monday my check still was not processed and when I contacted the bank the teller told me my check had been processed and I was able to use my debit. I used the card for a nine dollar purchase and received a 39 dollar charge 2 days later for overdrawing my account.

I call the bank and they tell me it was a miscommunication and to contact my local branch so I did and they said "Sorry... We cannot remove this." I called corporate and finally 1 week later they removed the charge however I was then charged 39 dollars for another check that cleared the account that night that never even showed up as pending... And I had more than enough money to cover it had they not took out their bogus fees.

So I check my online statement and wow..... I had been charged again a 39 dollar fee and then again 39 more dollars where they moved the 39 dollar fee up and put another debit charge that had cleared two days prior above the charge that I received before for 39 dollars and bam... That initiated another charge... So now I have 3 over limit charges of 39 dollars a piece and I'm now negative 85 dollars in my account.

I am contacting the BBB and have made copies of the statements that clearly state that I had enough money and last but final.... I add all transactions up and I am missing 50 dollars that I guess just disappears because when I add all my deposits and all that I have spent minus their fees... I still would be 50 to the good... So where is it at???

No one knows and they told me the last time I talked to them that 2 was the limit they will not remove any other items from my account,,,, imagine that.... The icing to my cake. I talked to a friend about it and they did the same thing to her.... 700 in two months of overdraft fees where does this end??? Please I beg you do not bank with this company ... They will hold checks and send through transactions when your balance is already low......... Just to give you charges I guess this is how they clearly make their money.

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Do yourself a favor, just go through another bank.

- 07/06/2009

CLEVELAND, OHIO -- I have banked with Key Bank for over a year because of their local branch's proximity to my apartment. I never had a problem with them until recently. I'll be as brief as possible.

I made a mistake on my registry. I was supposed to get a deposit from PayPal within a certain number of business days. It breached that number of business days, so I wrote down that this amount of money was in my account. I proceeded to spend less than the total of the money I already had and the money from PayPal, much less. There was a total of five transactions in 48 hours. The PayPal money wasn't there so I overdrew on the last two transactions, once by $0.50 and they other time by $6.54. I'm a full time college student who is not presently employed and I am selling some of my possessions on eBay to get by.

A few hours later, I am checking my Key Bank account and I notice I have a negative balance. This is when I learn that this PayPal transaction did not go through yet. I promptly go to the bank and make a deposit that more than covers the days transactions. I check my bank account again when I get home and it shows a positive balance. This was within the same calendar day so I thought the problem was solved. I was wrong again.

Two days later, there is one overdraft fee on my account. I call to explain what happened and ask if they can remove it as a one time courtesy. Most banks do this, I know Chase does. They informed me that I will need to call back the next day because four more fees will be added. I beg them to work with me and they won't. I call again so I may speak with a supervisor. She has an attitude problem and basically tells me that all they can do is remove 25% of the fees. I try to reason with her considering my financial cul-de-sac and she makes it clear that she doesn't care.

I understand that her job is not to hold my hand, but I thought that the attitude was very unnecessary. She tells me that under all circumstances, the money MUST be in the account AT THE TIME OF PURCHASE. I do know that, but she refuses to understand that it was an honest mistake, and I deposited the money a few hours after the transactions and the online banking tool showed that my account was positive.

When you bank with Key Bank, somehow two overdrafts become five, because that is what happened to me. I don't even know how this is legal! Anyway, they buried me in $183.00 in overdraft fees over a measly $7.04. Also, 25% of the fees does not help at all because three of them shouldn't be on my account to begin with!

I go to the branch nearest me, only to be told that the woman I want to speak to is at another branch a couple of miles away. That's kind of irritating, but whatever. I speak to her and she explains that they add the fees before the transactions come through therefore taking up all of those funds before the transactions you made hit. This is interesting because the woman on the telephone customer service line tells me that they money must be in the account at the time of the transaction. For the first three, it was! Even if you arrange the transaction so the three most expensive go through first, the first three were absolutely covered.

So basically, Key Bank reserves the right to take two days worth of transactions and rearrange them after adding a fee so you overdraw your account a few more times than you actually did. I don't know why they did this with two days worth of transactions anyway. The first was on one day, and the last four were on the next day. I tell her this and "all she can do" is remove two of the fees. That still doesn't help.

I must save my next phone call to customer service because there is a fee for calling. This is called an "Excessive Telephone Inquiry Service Charge" where if you call and speak with a representative more than three times in a month, you will be charged $1.50 for each call. FYI, if you call the automated system more than eight times in a statement period, they will charge your account $0.75 for each subsequent call.

So, even if they make a mistake on your account, and it takes more than three representatives to clear it up, you will have to pay for what they are supposed to include with their service. I don't know of any other bank that charges their customers to call CUSTOMER SERVICE more than three times a month. I guess it doesn't matter, because they are unwilling to add the human touch to their service and work with their customers. You may as well speak with a robot.

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KeyBank Closed My Account for No Legitimate Reason

By Larry - 01/20/2012

CLEVELAND, OHIO -- I opened an account on January 17, 2012. Two days later, the personal banker called and told me that she had to close my account because she said that I was on ChexSystems. So, I went to another bank local immediately after notification of my account closure with KeyBank to see if the same thing would happen. I found out that I was not on ChexSystems. I was able to open an account with another bank without any problems. My information was run and verified with both ChexSystems and Equifax at the time that I applied for the account.

Ultimately, I was clear with both agencies. It is odd that a bank would tell one this two days later. Besides KeyBank, every bank that I have ever used in the past has been able to verify me with ChexSystems at the time that I applied to open an account. I signed up for direct deposit on the date that I opened the account. Because KeyBank inconvenienced me by notifying me two days later that my account was closed, I had to wait an extra week to get paid. The lady who opened my account was not nice and isn't good at dealing with people, but rather arrogant and snobbish.

KeyBank is said to be the worst bank in Columbus, according to a recent survey. This explains why KeyBank doesn't have many customers and people don't keep accounts there long. Like my coworkers, I highly recommend that you stay away from KeyBank.

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Overdraft Ripoff Scheme and Threats Made in Person on on Phone

By hardworker15 - 11/10/2010

$34.00, that is what this is all about. Prior to the bank closing on Saturday a deposit was made. Some bills were paid on Monday, but the check was applied after the bills despite an overdraft account. I checked Monday, everything looked fine. I checked Tuesday an overdraft fee-- when according to my statement and online register BOTH I never went negative. I call the 800 number and they said "go talk to the branch manager". I did. He was very mean and acted like a cartoon villain as he explained they can put deposits and debits in any order they want.

I asked about another bill that was due to come out on Monday but hadn't, and he said he hoped they would put it in on Monday, so he could charge another overdraft fee retroactively, and as many other fees as he could find for my account. Then he realized my account opened in 1983 was with a branch five miles away. I had to contact that bank. I did by phone and was told she was out of the office for the day, and that they would monitor my account for anything odd. The original manager called me at work, reissued his threat, and claimed to have spoken to the other manager.

I called his bluff and he admitted he had not spoken to her. I told him not to call again, or I would consider it harassment. This morning the assistant called and said that they could not reverse the fee according to their rules. I have not been able to speak to the manager who was more than happy to speak to us when my daughter and partner opened accounts with her.

In NYS they say on the banking complaint website that most National banks apply deposits first, but they don't have to. Since 1983 I have only been charged two overdraft fees, one was reversed. I am very upset that the bank manager did not speak to me personally. Conclusion: KeyBank is not as nice to work with as they used to be.

Resolution Update 11/10/2010:

Apology and refund were given.

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Key Bank Dirty Thieves

By wulfdog - 08/14/2009

TUMWATER,, WASHINGTON -- KeyBank made a mistake by not adding my new address to my account when I switched from a campground address to a PO Box address after I became a resident of WA. I called KeyBank to tell them my new address. They wouldn't accept a phone call to do a change of address. So I used my manual wheelchair in the snow in January 2009 to personally go into the bank and change my address, even took the slip from the Post Office to give them proof of new address. Never got another statement from them from Jan 09 to Aug 09.

During that time I had deposited money into that account to pay my phone bills with through auto debit. Got a call that I had never changed my address and my statements were being returned to KB and they were charging me $10 for every month a statement was returned. Here is the name for this service - Statement Information Safekeeping FEE. Charge for this service $10.00 each time you don't receive you statement. Guess what? You never know about this fee because you never get a statement telling you this is going on because they didn't actually change your address in their system.

Here's the kicker. I went in to cancel my account after I found out they had the only ATM that charged $3.00 to use their ATM with another bank's card. Also that they charge $32 and up for insufficient funds. I had a soft heart and let the guy talk me into keeping my account. He said it would be good to keep it for an emergency or if I needed to change banks. I kept the account and changed my address that same day. Damn stupid mistake on my part. So not only did they keep charging me $10 for the Safekeeping fee, they caused me to go insuf on my phone debit.

I was keeping record of the phone bills and the amount of money I put in the KB so I wouldn't go over. I thought they were sending out statements bi-annually, the reason I wasn't getting a statement. I fought with them on the phone and finally got them to remove the $32 overdraft charge and the month of July $10 safekeeping fee.

THEIR EXCUSE FOR NOT GIVING ME THE OTHER MONTH'S SAFEKEEPING FEES IS THAT THEY CAN'T GO BACK FARTHER THAN ONE MONTH. EACH MONTH THE STATEMENTS DROP OFF THEIR SYSTEM SO YOU CAN'T BE REFUNDED. I SAID "YOU CAN SEE THEM SO YOU CAN REFUND THEM", THEY SAID NO, EVEN IF THEY CAN SEE THEM, THEY WILL NOT CREDIT THEM BACK BECAUSE THEY'RE OFF THE SYSTEM.

RUN INTO THEIR BANK AND TAKE $10 FROM THEM AND SEE IF THEY WON'T CALL THE COPS AND THROW YOU IN JAIL. THEY CAN LEGALLY STEAL FROM YOU, AND YOU CAN'T DO A DAMN THING ABOUT IT. STAY AWAY FROM KEYBANK.

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Thieves!

By aklinowski67 - 10/24/2011

DENVER, COLORADO -- Started charging a $5.00 "maintenance" fee on my account because I was not using it enough. Charged me another $5.00 when I closed the account, but only informed me of that when it was too late to waive the fee. Essentially stole $10.00 from me for doing absolutely nothing and then justified it by saying other banks charge more. I don't care what other banks are doing if I am not their customer. If I could charge someone $5.00 every time I hit enter on the keyboard I would be rich by now. Rip off! Too bad they can't maintain good customer relations!